Duty
by GirlquinndreameR
Summary: Xiaoyin. "Love is a luxury, a luxury I can’t afford. Maybe if--," he cut himself off before he finished his thought. He was never the dreamer type. But she was, though. PART 2 UP!
1. Chapter 1

Duty

A Tekken 4 one-shot

Kazama Jin and Ling Xiaoyu

Note: I live!! Haha, okay, in all honesty, I've missed this fandom. I was reading over my old Tekken stories, and I couldn't help but realize something: I like this pair a lot, and I was kind of angry with myself for not contributing more. So, while I should have been studying for an exam, I ended up writing this little thing. Completely independent from my other Tekken fics... maybe. Hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

Jin sat up from the bench press and wiped his brow with his wristband. The bench squeaked loudly beneath him, echoing through the empty weight room.

He preferred working out in the morning; it was always a habit. He was like that is his youth, when his mother would pull him out of bed to practice his forms on the front porch. Even in Brisbane, he would wake up at dawn to practice.

The weight room at the arena had some new state of the art equipment he had never seen before. Granted, it was all bought by Mishima money, a fact that left a sour taste in his throat, but nevertheless, he allowed himself to indulge in its availability.

The door slowly opened and in stepped a statuesque brown bear with a red scarf tied around his neck. He saw Jin and immediately ran up to him, scooping the human in a hug. Jin gasped for air as the bear swung him in his arms, delighted to see the familiar face. It grunted a few things before depositing Jin to the floor.

"It's nice to see you too, Kuma," Jin took a few deep breaths, replenishing his oxygen. "How are you doing?"

Kuma spoke enthusicastically while growling something.

"I see. And… you're still chasing Panda, of course."

Kuma began to explain something while lifting his arms left and right, flexing and posing, as if he were a famous bodybuilder.

At this, Jin furrowed his brows. "You shouldn't lie about that. Just the other day, I saw you thrown in a flower bed."

Kuma sighed, dropping his shoulders.

"It's alright… you'll have your chance… maybe…" Jin did not want to put the bear's hopes up too high.

Kuma pointed at Jin.

"Me? Oh… I'm fine. Just training every day since I got here."

Kuma snarled.

"Have I talked to…?" Jin stopped when he heard her name. "…No, I haven't spoken with her. I don't see why--." He was interrupted by Kuma. "Yeah, I sent her that email but that doesn't mean anything."

As they continued to discuss the topic at hand, Kuma sat on the padded floor with his feet in front of him. He leaned forward and reached for his toes, stretching his leg and back muscles.

"Well, we were friends when we were younger," Jin explained as he sat back down on the end of the bench press. "I'm just looking out for her."

Kuma questioned him as he reached his arm behind his head, extending his triceps.

"I would have liked it if she returned to China and had her life there. Instead, she's in the tournament, near all this… bad blood." Jin paused as he loosened the tape around his wrists and hands, letting the skin breathe. "I guess… I was trying to protect her."

Jin looked up as Kuma explained something to him; the animal moved his hands back and forth as if elaborating an idea between Jin and the person in question. "I--," Jin swallowed the lump in his throat. "That was a long time ago, when we were young and the third tournament hadn't started. It was… It was her, mostly. She made it easy not to worry.

"When we would spar," Jin explained when Kuma asked for clarification, "I noticed something. For a while, during that time, I forgot why I had to fight, all that anger, the bad memories… I forgot it all… I don't know if that's a good thing." Jin stood from where he sat and slowly made his way to the wall of mirrors that stood before him. He found himself staring at his reflection, right into his dark eyes. He held back a flinch. He always hated the sight of himself; he always feared he would see black markings on his face, a set of horns growing from his head or red irises staring back at him. "But I couldn't afford to forget anything," he continued. "I had a duty I had to fulfill," he explained to Kuma as he turned to face the bear. "But her… she was so carefree," Jin leaned back against the mirror. "I mean, she wanted to build an amusement park with the prize money," he said with a touch of mockery. He closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them, looking upward as he focused on a vent embedded in the white ceiling. "Someone like her should stay away from this kind of evil," he said after he paused.

Kuma responded.

"That includes me, Kuma."

Kuma sat up from his stretching and shook his head at the human, displeased.

"Look, I just want her happy," Jin crossed his arms. "I don't see why you're reading into this."

Kuma sighed as he spoke to his old friend. His growls were filled with a tint of frustration Jin easily read.

"You want to protect Panda? No offense, but if anything, she would need protection from you. What does this have to do with--?"

Kuma pointed at Jin.

"You mean, just like how I want to pro--," Jin muttered what the bear told him, but then cut his own words short.

And then, Kuma told him something, something he never wanted to consider. It has crossed his mind once, maybe twice, possibly three times, but the truth of the matter was that it would cause too many complications… and pain. Jin was positive it would.

Jin shook his head. "No, it's… Love is a luxury, a luxury I can't afford. Maybe if--," he cut himself off before he finished his thought. He was never one to dwell on what ifs; he was never the dreamer type…

But she was, though. A trait of hers he often admired. A fond smile gently tugged the right corner of his lips but quickly he pulled on his emotionless mask.

Kuma stared quizzically.

"No," Jin concluded. "I just can't." He pulled himself away from the mirrors and picked up the water bottle he left near the bench press. "I got to go. But it was nice seeing you again."

Kuma nodded in agreement.

"Good luck with your matches," Jin stepped out to the hall from the open doorway. The hallway was silent, all except for faint footsteps leaving one end and out the front door. Jin froze as he felt something under his foot; he looked down to see that he stepped on a white hand towel. He picked it up and turned to Kuma who was still in the weight room. "Did you drop this?" he asked the brown bear.

Kuma shook his head, growled and shrugged.

Curious, Jin unfolded it. And then, his eyes widened ever so slightly.

"_You… got me something? What's the occasion?"_

"_It's White Day."_

"_Huh?"_

"_I don't know how they do it in China, but here in Japan, girls give chocolates on Valentine's and guys return the favor a month later."_

"_Oh, okay. Thank you. Oooh! It's so cute! It even has a little panda face on it!"_

Jin clutched the familiar towel tightly, the small embroidered panda head staring back at him.

* * *

Notes: I think I'm brainstorming for a second chapter. If I do, I promise it won't take me five years to post.


	2. Chapter 2

Duty - 2  
A Tekken one-shot  
Kazama Jin and Ling Xiaoyu  
Notes: It wasn't my intention to continue this, but I did. That's why this portion is a lot longer than the first part.

* * *

"Here," Miharu held a moist paper towel out in front of her.

"Thanks," Xiaoyu muttered and held it to her bleeding lip. She sat quietly with a frown on her face, straddling the steel bench outside the locker room.

"Look at it this way, Xiao," Miharu joined her beside the bench. "At least Hwaorang will be sporting a black eye on that smug face for weeks!"

Xiaoyu forced herself not to smile; it actually kind of hurt. "Still lost though."

"No worries, Xiao. It was a close match. They'll be other times for redemption," she assured her friend. She stared at Xiaoyu as her brown eyes drifted to the floor, examining the details of the speckled linoleum. "Xiao? What's up?"

Xiaoyu blinked, looking up at her friend. "Huh?"

"You were spacing out."

Xiaoyu was compelled to shake her head. "Nothing, it's not--," she froze as she fell under her friend's disapproving look. Miharu had one cocked eyebrow, signaling hat she did not believe her for a second. "It's Jin," Xiaoyu admitted softly, holding the paper towel to her lip again.

Miharu's eyes widened in interest. "Oh-ho... wait. I thought he wasn't talking to you."

"He isn't."

"Then what...?"

"I heard him talking in the weight room. To Kuma. About me."

"Oh..." Miharu should not have been so shocked, considering she had seen Xiaoyu talk to Panda almost everyday. She shook her head. "So, what did he, er, they say?"

Xiaoyu took a deep breath. "Well," she told her friend, keeping the moist paper towel to her lips, "He said I was too carefree. That I should stay away from this evil."

"Evil?" Miharu's brow furrowed.

She noticed her friend's concerned look. "It's not anything really!" she tried to assure her. "It's just... history, family history of the Mishimas. I don't even know the whole story but basically Jin, his dad and his grandpa all wanna kill each other. But I don't think I'm in any danger or anything. I mean, I barely see Heihachi in the house; I live in a completely different wing. But anyway, yeah, Jin said to Kuma that I should stay away from that evil, including him."

"Is that all he said?"

Xiaoyu shook her head. "He also said--," her frown deepened; she did not bother to hide that she was upset. "He also said that he can't afford something like love..."

Miharu's widened her eyes. "Xiao..."

Immediately, Xiaoyu stomped her foot into the ground. "Urgh! He makes me so angry, I could just-- I could--!"

"Scream?" Miharu offered.

"Choke him!" Xiaoyu elaborated. "I mean, come on! He leaves without a word and then he comes back without a word!" she squeezed the paper towel harder; some fluid dripped out. "My life was great, you know? I mean, after he left, I shut everything out and made new friends, I wasn't failing classes... but then he emails me. I mean, we were friends when we were younger. Now..." Xiaoyu's eyes turned downward, her voice void of anger. "Now he won't even talk to me."

Miharu pouted slightly. "And now your feelings are coming back?" she noticed Xiaoyu close her eyes and remain silent. But Miharu already knew the answer. "Xiao... why don't you tell him..." her eyes looked over Xiaoyu's shoulder.

"Believe me, I wanna talk to him. Talk to him and punch him really good in the face," Xiaoyu bared her teeth slightly. "He's being a huge jerk..."

"Yes!" Miharu pointed a finger at Xiaoyu. "Tell him everything. The moment you see him. Gotta go!" she jumped off the bench and headed down the hall. "Good luck! Tell me about it later!" she waved over her shoulder and dashed out of sight.

Xiaoyu stared silent and wide eye as her friend ran from view. "What... the... heck...?" she returned the slightly dry paper towel to her lip.

"You dropped this."

Xiaoyu nearly experienced whiplash when she turned her head over her left shoulder. She came face to face with an embroidered panda face. She gulped; didn't she drop that in front of...? She looked up to see a familiar face. "Jin..." Well, speak of the devil.

Jin inched the hand towel closer to her.

Xiaoyu slowly took the towel back.

And without another word, Jin turned on his heels and left.

Xiaoyu could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Don't go, don't... "Wait," she called over her left shoulder. She stood to her feet and faced Jin's stationary back. "Aren't you gonna ask me anything?"

Jin remained standing a few feet in front of her, back facing her.

"I mean, you found this," she said, holding up the white hand towel. "Don't you have anything to ask me? Why I was there? How much did I hear? Something!"

"You heard everything," Jin said. It was a statement, if anything.

"Ye-yeah."

"Then there is nothing to discuss." Jin took a few more steps forward.

Stop, don't go... Xiaoyu did the first thing that came to mind. She balled up the bloody paper towel and threw it at him, missing his head by a few inches. It sailed passed his head and landed a few feet before his feet. "That's not good enough!" she exclaimed.

Jin turned to her.

As Xiaoyu locked eyes with him, she could not help feeling so... young. It was as if it were the first time all over again: those physiological signs of infatuation rose. Palpilating heartbeat. Warm neck and cheeks. Mind in the clouds. But this time, something else was mixed into it... "Look, Jin, I know you're socially retarded so let me give you a hint. You can't just email me and then expect to never talk to me. I mean, I at least deserve a reason why I should be careful."

"You already know the answer. You heard it days ago."

Xiaoyu could not help but conclude anyone with Mishima blood was destined to crappy social skills. "Whatever, but let me hear it from you! Talk to me!"

When she remained silent, she felt herself grow sick with frustration. "You know, you're a real jerk, Kazama Jin! We were friends a few years ago and now you won't even listen to me!"

"There are things you don't understand," Jin responded.

She retorted, "Try explaining it! Maybe I can or at least try."

"No," he insisted, eyes staring right back at her. "It wouldn't matter. There are forces going on that are too strong and too complicated. But no matter what, I have every intention to bring the Mishimas down but I can't do that with anyone around me."

"Including me?"

"Including you," he reiterated without skipping a beat. "It's gonna get ugly fast and I don't want you-- anyone in the line of fire."

Xiaoyu blinked. Did he stumble? Perhaps that was her mind playing with her. "So... you want to go all about... alone?" She earned a slow nod from him. "But that's..." she shook her head. "That's terrible. I mean... won't you feel lonely?"

What he said pulled her heartstrings, making her hold her breath. "It doesn't matter," he said, briefly pulling his eyes downward. "It's the only way..." with one last look to her face, he turned and began to walk away.

Xiaoyu's feet felt as if they were wedged in cement. She did not agree with him, not at all... The last moment he looked at her... it was brief but she was sure she caught that glance. It was the same look she was in the mirror when she found out Jin left two years ago... the pain, the loneliness...

Don't let him get away. Not again. Tell him! Xiaoyu's feet moved and she ran to him, ran and jumped to him...

... while delivering a swift kick to his back, sending him down on the linoleum. Jin grunted, falling face down. "What the hell--?!" he quickly turned to his back but was greeted by the figure of the petite Chinese girl hurling herself in the air and landing on his stomach, straddling him to the floor.

With one hand holding down his right shoulder, she let out a frustrated scream and used his left hand to punch the floor right beside his left ear. "Don't paint yourself as some kind of tragic hero!" she exclaimed, using her remaining strength to hold back her tears. "Tragic heroes always choose solitude but they're never happy, even if they accomplish their goal, they're never truly happy! And that's all I want for you..." she sighed as she placed her hands on him, one on each shoulder. She took a few deep breaths as she felt her own body rise up and down with his breathing. "Look, I know you have a duty to your vengeance. And I'm not asking you to give it up, it's just..." she closed her eyes briefly and when she reopened them, she looked straight at him. "... It's just that three years ago you were my first friend in this foreign country. And I never stopped caring for you..."

Jin blinked, looking straight at her.

"I just want to know that you'll be okay when this is all over... " Xiaoyu pulled her hands away and sat up straight on his stomach.

For a few moments, their breaths and the buzz of the fluorescent lights were the only noise filling the space. Jin averted his eyes to the ceiling directly above him, and then to the white wall on his right side. "You should get off me. Someone may get the wrong idea."

Another bundle of frustration swelled in her throat. She hurried to her feet and he followed suit. "You stupid jerk! You didn't listen to a word I said!" Her fists shook and she stomped her foot down. "Alright, fine! You wanna be an ultimate jerkwad? Then be an ultimate super mega jerkwad!" Xiaoyu turned on her heels and began to stomp away.

That was, until she felt a hand to her hair, stopping her dead in her tracks. Jin gently tugged her right pigtail, signaling to turn to him. "What the heck?" she steered right and turned, meeting him face to face again.

Jin repositioned his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt.

Xiaoyu tried her best to read his expression. His eyes were on her, his expression rock solid and unwavering, his jaw stiff, his lips in a straight line. And then, right before her eyes, his brown eyes softened. She did not realize she was holding her breath.

"Living in the mansion was suffocating," Jin admitted softly. "Let's face it, the old wind bag isn't much of the paternal type. That place was a complete one-eighty compared to the house my mom raised me in. And add on top of that, the biggest blow, what happened to her..." Jin's eyes lowered to her shoulders briefly. "I changed into someone else the moment that Ogre destroyed her.

"And then, I remember one time, you were reaching for a box of cereal on the top shelf. It slipped and popped open, and all the cereal fell on top of your head." The corner of his lip gently moved upward. It was hard to tell but Xiaoyu was staring at him long enough to see it.

Her eyes turned to his collarbone. She exhaled, wondering if her klutz moments were so amusing, it caused the man to actually smile... Then again, she was always a little clumsy; that was not old news. "I... I don't even remember that..." she admitted, "I mean, I klutzed out in front of you so many times, I lost count."

"It was the first time I laughed in that house. Three years since my mom died," he told her straight face.

A spark of shame erupted in Xiaoyu's throat. Jin's laughter... it seemed like such a milestone for him and yet she could not even recollect an ounce of that same memory. She briefly closed her eyes, struggling to find that image... But it would not work; she could not see it.

Xiaoyu's eyes shot open when she felt a warmth to her head. Jin lifted one of his hands out of his pockets and placed it atop her head, his palm bordering the right side of her hairline. "Xiaoyu," he spoke her name for the first time since they met today, "for me, it's still like that. You're still the same."

Meaning what? Xiaoyu wondered what it would be like to place her hand on his chest. Would she feel a steady beat... or an erratic pulse, similar to what she was experiencing now?

"So, as my friend, understand that this is something I have to do. My mother died because she was stuck in the middle. I don't want anymore unnecessary casualties."

His eyes were too captivating for his own good, really. But she knew Jin enough, she knew of his stubbornness and determination, but was she really going to give up?

Then again, this was a family matter... she was suspicious that there was something going on in that family, far older than she would ever realize. "But Jin... if you need me, you can always call me."

She wanted him to know that someone cared. That he did not have to be a tragic hero.

He nodded his head and pulled his hand away from her hair. At that very same moment, Xiaoyu reached her hand out to his wrist, closing her hand around it. It was nice, feeling his contact, his pulse--.

Right underneath her fingertips, she could feel his pulse pounding in his wrist.

Fast. It was fast.

Curiously, with her hand still at his wrist, she stepped closer to him.

His pulse was racing now.

"Jin?"

"Yeah?" his face remained unchanged, steady.

Maybe... maybe she was imagining it... "Nothing," she let go of him and watched him walk away.

* * *

...Duty: Fin.


End file.
